Casino of Valkyries
by RedLegoManiac
Summary: Gambling themed one shot thing.


I'm surprised i'm even uploading this. This is a rushed piece of… I could say shit but it's not that bad, right? Anyways, Vala and I are holding a challenge between us on who can make the better one shot with the theme of gambling. I have finals this week. After this week, I will be writing chapters for Homeless Haddock. Please do not ask where I am or what I'm doing because likely I'll be either stress eating myself into a depression, studying, or freaking the hell out because there's not ever enough time to do anything.

There's going to be a lot of 'playing card' terms in here. The beginning paragraphs are following game of Texas Hold'em, a variation of poker. Now, I don't know casino etiquette because I'm too young to gamble…. legally.

Rated T for cursing.

The dealer spread the cards in a rainbow along the playing table, then collected them in one hand and performed a one handed cut followed by another half deck cut and a riffle shuffle. A very vivid green pair of eyes watched the dealer as she slid cards to five casino attendees, giving each two cards and then placing the rest of the deck in the middle of the table. The dealer discarded one card, setting it face down to the side, then revealing three cards to the game players.

The same green eyes looked around the grand hall of the Casino of Valkyries, seeing gold plated… everything. The silver chandeliers held jewels of all colors, and the carpet. Oh the carpet was wonderful. It was clean, for one, and it was brand new. The Casino had recently undergone renovations while changing management, resulting in a change of crowd. Before, the Casino was a bit run down following the death of the world renowned billionaire Finn Hofferson, who left the casino to his brother, Karl Hofferson; unfortunately poor financing and appalling ownership left the casino to be run down. Until recently, that is. Karl Hofferson resigned a few years ago, leaving the business to his daughter, who rebuilt the casino to what it is now.

The dealer, a raven haired woman, looked up to meet the green eyed, auburn haired, man's eyes, he was dressed in a nice slim fit tuxedo; hiding his lean build. She flashed him a smile, which he returned with a half nervous grin and a small blush, and she dealt two cards to an empty spot at her table, waving him over. Her name tag read Heather. There were a few older men at the table, with white hair and graying beards, likely filthy rich by gambling. The green eyed man turned around to glance at his mentor-father figure, a large blonde man with two prosthetics, but the other man was distracted by glowing neon signs above slot machines.

He walked towards the table and sat down at the empty seat, nodding in greeting to the other men at the table. "This your first time here?" Heather asked, "Heather." She said, gesturing to her name tag. The auburn haired man rested his cane against the table, and tapped his right shoe against his left ankle, trying to feel what is not there.

"Uh-yeah." He said, with a tint of a blush, then looked at the ace of hearts and the jack of spades in his hand, and gave his name, "Hiccup. Check." Hiccup knocked on the table twice, signalling that he would neither raise the bet or fold. The other men at the table raised the bet by two hundred dollars total, and he moved forward two black poker chips. Heather set one card face down to the side, and revealed three cards. A queen of diamonds, a nine of clubs, and a four of hearts. Heather laid the next card down, a ten of clubs.

A thought passed Hiccup's mind, realizing that all he needed to get a straight was a king, and he glanced around the table to the other players. Reading them, learning about them. The man across from Hiccup, dressed in a gray suit with a receding hairline; probably dealing with marital stress. The man to the right of the other man, dressed in a black suit with a maroon tie; a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his brow. ' _He's nervous.'_ Hiccup deduced.

The man with the maroon tie upped the pot by fifty dollars. Heather laid the next card down, and by Odin's luck it was a king of hearts. Hiccup tightened his jaw and stared down the other players, each of them betraying nothing with words, but the glints of their eyes, the twitch of a mustache, the tapping of a finger. The implicit details tell greater stories than explicit characteristics.

The players called check, and Heather told them to reveal their cards. Hiccup won by a landslide, and swept the pile of chips in the middle towards his neat stacks, and began to place them on the corresponding chip-towers. They passed their cards back to Heather, and she reshuffled them expertly.

"What's your name again, Kid?"

Hiccup turned to the voice, and answered. "Hayden, but everyone I know calls me Hiccup."

"Looks like you're doing good for your first time." The older man commented, looking at Hiccup's chips. "Beginner's luck?" A moment passed in silence. "Most people call me Old Wrinkly."

A tight smile graced the green eyed man's lips. "No." He said shortly. "My Dad taught me when he was alive. My mentor took me in after my dad passed away."

"Was he good?"

A short nod and "the best" was all the elderly man got. Hiccup flashed Heather a smile as he stood up, taking a cup of whiskey from a passing waiter as he walked away. He found Gobber by the slot machines. "C'mon Gobber, you know those scam people."

"But I was so close, Laddie! One more time." Before Hiccup could stop Gobber, he pulled the lever down sending the slots spinning. Gobber reached and took the glass from Hiccup's hand, and took a swig.

"Should you be drinking right now?"

"Eh, probably not." Gobber said, taking another sip as the slot machine landed on the jackpot symbols. "OI! I DID IT LADDIE!" He shouted in glee, right in Hiccup's ear making him grimace and recoil.

Hiccup laughed with Gobber, but found himself drawn to the blonde woman wearing an elegant sky blue dress who had walked onto the main floor. Her sky blue eyes scanning the floor of her own casino, making eye contact with an emerald green gaze. Hiccup blushed, and the woman flashed a smile as she continued to the bar unaware of the stocky man following her. "I'll… I'll be back, Gobber. Don't lose the winnings."

Hiccup grabbed his cane, and felt eyes on him as he approached the bar, where the stocky man was trying very badly, if at all, to seduce the blonde woman. "I've told you once, Snotlout. Get. Lost." She punctuated her angelic words by prodding the stocky man's chest.

"Pfft, whatever Babe. C'mon, what's the worst a drink can do." Hiccup heard 'Snotlout' say, and tapped the man's shoulder. "Huh?" He asked.

"What's your recommendation?" Hiccup asked, gesturing to the selection of beers and distracting him as the blonde woman scribbled a note on a napkin then walk off. Hiccup took two steps as Snotlout looked over the selection, sneaking behind him and swiping the napkin before walking away from the bar. He read the note as he rounded the corner of a pillar.

 _Thanks for the save, how about a game?_

 _-V_

That's odd. Hiccup scanned the casino room, and spotted the same blue dress on a balcony on the second floor of the main hall going behind a closing door. "How did you get up there so quickly…?" He asked quietly to himself. ' _Should I follow?'_ He tossed the thought around in his head, worse comes to worst he gets rejected horribly and falls to his death from a second floor balcony.

… Or he meets a gorgeous woman and plays cards either with or against her.

He's in a casino, this was just another gamble. Hiccup made up his mind, and he walked briskly, but not quickly enough to garner attention, up the stairs going to the second floor. There was a man in a tuxedo at the top of the stairs, and he could see the ever so slight bulge of a pistol's grip against the tux jacket. The man also had a radio clipped to his waist.

"Name." The tux man ordered.

"Uh-Hayden, Hayden Haddock." Hiccup answered promptly, a little unsettled by the british accent and the chin tattoos the other man had.

His radio blipped to life. "Eret, let him through, he's with me for the evening." The same angelic voice he had heard earlier said.

"Of course Miss Hofferson." Eret said, and opened the fancy door. Wait, did he just say Hofferson? As in the daughter of Karl Hofferson and the niece of Finn Hofferson?

 _Holy Shit._

Hiccup went blank, then willed himself to walking into the private playing room. The room was nice, with leather furniture and a bar in the corner, where a blonde man with dreads was wiping the inside of a wine glass, and the gambling table was on the other side of the room. To his surprise, Heather was standing there, and she waved him over. "Moving up in the world." She commented, "low level pots to the high life, congrats."

Hiccup could only nod dumbly as Miss Hofferson walked with two glasses of champagne in hand towards the table. She handed him one, which he accepted tentatively, in disbelief he was standing before a billionaire. "I-uh-My name's H-Hiccup." He placed his glass down and held his hand out, other hand resting on the figurehead of his cane.

She shook his hand, "Astrid Hofferson." He pulled a stool out for her as Heather shuffled the deck, passing out five cards to three seats which he found odd.

A shout alerted him and on instinct he grabbed the figurehead of the cane and withdrew a sword to block the sword coming down on him. He heard Astrid and Heather gasp as the blonde woman holding the sword attacked him again, though this time he maneuvered to disarm her, and sent the sword flying into the bull's eye of the dartboard in the room.

"Ruffnut! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Astrid shouted.

"Tsk tsk, inviting someone with a weapon into your private room, you should know better than that, Astrid."

"A cane." Hiccup corrected, sheathing his blade back into the cane. He was about to rest it against the table, but the bartender snatched it up, muttering something about the exquisite detail of the blade and the figurehead.

"This is the head of the Night Fury. You're a Haddock." The bartender stated.

"I'm surprised you know my last name."

"Pfft, who doesn't? Stoick Haddock was a master at five hand poker." Ruffnut said. "Tuffnut, get us a round of drinks!"

They sat down and looked at their cards. "So why'd you do it?" Astrid asked curiously.

Hiccup furrowed his brows at the pair of fours he was dealt. "Do what?"

"Distract him, at the bar." She clarified, and Ruffnut snorted in amusement, noticing the way they were looking at each other.

"I… I don't know. Truth be told I didn't know who you were, all I saw was a beautiful woman being harassed by a less than gentle man." Hiccup said, and realized there was no money on the table.

"I have no use for money at this point, Hiccup, why would I try to win yours?"

 _'I have no use for rings of gold'_ ran through his mind, and he asked, "if not money, then perhaps a dance?"

"I don't think Tuffnut would appreciate Ruffnut stripping." Heather interjected, making Hiccup blush and eliciting a gag from Tuffnut. Astrid laughed at Hiccup's bashfulness.

"No! Not like that!" He said, and returned three of his cards to Heather, who gave him a new trio of cards. He looked at the cards, a pair of fours, and a three of a kind in tens.

Perhaps Heather wanted him to win?

Astrid received two different cards, and he noticed her blue eyes darken considerably. She glared at Heather for a second.

"Reveal cards." Heather said, and Hiccup had the winning hand of a full house.

He stood up, knowing the terms of the gamble, bent over slightly as Astrid spun the stool around, taking her hand in his. "May I have this dance?"

Ruffnut had moved near the stereo system, ready to connect her phone to play music, but he shook his head. He unlocked his phone, selected a song, and tossed it to the female twin.

Hiccup sang softly, " _I'll swim and sail on savage seas  
with ne'er a fear of drowning.  
And gladly ride the waves of life  
if you will marry me._

 _No scorching sun, nor freezing cold  
will stop me on my journey…_

 _If you will promise me your heart.  
And love…"_

" _...And love me for eternity."_ Astrid began, rising to her feet. " _My dearest one, my darling dear,  
your mighty words astound me.  
But I've no need of mighty deeds  
when I feel your arms around me."  
_  
" _But I would bring you rings of gold,  
I'd even sing you poetry!" _Astrid grinned widely as he spun her around, " _And I would keep you from all harm  
if you would stay beside me!"_

Heather and Ruffnut were having as the duo danced, not having seen their very wealthy mutual friend act this way before.

 __" _I have no use for rings of gold,  
I care not for your poetry."_

"Oh that hurts," Hiccup snarked.

 __" _I only want your hand to hold...  
I only want you near me!"  
_  
" _To love and kiss, to sweetly hold!  
For the dancing and the dreaming!  
Through all life's sorrows and delights,  
I'll keep your love inside me!_

 _I'll swim and sail on savage seas  
with ne'er a fear of drowning!  
And gladly ride the waves of life  
If you are beside me!" _They sang together, and at the end note, Astrid tugged Hiccup down by the collar and locked lips with him, muffling a cry of delight and surprise from the man.

Sometimes if you play your cards right, and know what to gamble for…

You just might get the girl.

== The End ==


End file.
